3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The influence of a short intervention programme on professional development of in-service teachers in education for sustainable development in secondary schools(2020) Thenga, Concepta MuofheThis research focused on the influence of a short professional development course for Geography in-service teachers in environment and sustainability education in secondary schools. To ensure that learners acquire knowledge and skills that promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), teachers need to revisit their thinking and action to transform their classroom practices. This study was conducted to determine if teachers’ thinking and action had been changed by participating in a professional development programme. A case study research strategy was used to investigate the influence of the Fundisa for Change professional development programme. Five teachers who attended the programme were investigated. Data were generated from analysis of the manual received at the training, as well as from one-on-one semi structured interviews, lesson observations, and scrutiny of the teachers’ lesson plans and assessment documents. Data analysed thematically, where themes and codes were generated both inductively and deductively. The analysis revealed that this particular intervention had strengthened participating teachers’ content knowledge and the integration of attitudes and values in teaching. However, it was found that the course did little to enhance the participating teachers’ pedagogy, assessment practices and use of resources. More importantly, the findings reveal factors that either constrain or enable the implementation of ESD in schools, which can be considered when designing further ESD professional development programmes. The system of the Department of Basic Education such as generic lesson plans and common assessments constrains the implementation of ESD; whilst the integration of values in teaching enables the implementation of ESD. Based on the results, it is recommended that a whole-school approach should be considered in teacher development for ESD. To ensure effective support of teachers in implementing ESD in schools, Department of Basic Education officials must also be capacitated. Further research is needed on learners’ knowledge, skills and values as a result of ESDItem Rural life at home and in the village: an ethnographic exploration of the everyday meaning of education negotiated through household dynamics and school walking routes in rural KwaZulu-Natal(2018) Mabandla, Noluthando XolileSchool and education for a significant number of South African learners is characterized by long travel times, unsafe modes of travel and exposure to weather related dangers. This dissertation was conducted with six participants in a rural municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and aims to highlight the value that rural learners place on education by looking at their everyday households and their walking routes to school. The lived experiences narrated during the interviews and observed during participant observation allowed me to capture the participant’s everyday, fears and coping strategies. The findings show that there are contextual factors that are barriers to education. Since my focus is the home and the walking routes, I was interested in the unique arrangements that the household, village and learners make in order to access school in rural areas. I was also interested in the participants’ outlook, worldview and habitus and how this triad impacts on the meaning they attach to education. After an examination of the history of KZN, a look at the socio-historical background and the view of rurality as the periphery, it became clear that the use of an orthodox measurement of school performance to understand the success or failure of schools in this context is deeply insufficient. And so the motivation behind an ethnographic design was to capture the experiences, interpretations and meanings the rural learners gave to education in their context. This is because beyond the gates of the schools are households and villages that add to the complexity of education in rural areas.Item The impact of teach South Africa through experiences of teach alumni: recruitment and support of motivated teacher candidates(2019) Ngwenya, LindiweThe teaching profession suffers from a low social status and public image, as South African teachers are generally considered to have low motivation and commitment. Consequently, the Department of Basic Education struggles to attract young, top achievers and retain quality, experienced teachers. The need for quality teachers is particularly felt in critical subjects and in disadvantaged schools. The NGO, TEACH South Africa (TSA), modelled after Teach for America, has positioned itself as a additional source of teachers and future leaders through its two-year induction and ongoing support programme. By rigorously recruiting, selecting and inducting young, high-achieving graduates with particular characteristics to teach critical subjects in disadvantaged schools, TSA aims to produce future leaders both inside and outside the classroom, committed to improving educational outcomes in the long-term. The study seeks to investigate the impact of the TSA programme on its recruits, called TEACH Ambassadors (TAs), now alumni, by exploring their experiences during the programme and subsequent career paths. It also aims to ascertain the extent to which the programme produces what it intends. This is done through a qualitative study, where semi-structured interviews of three TSA mentors and eleven alumni from the first three cohorts of the TSA programme (2009-2011) were used as a method of data collection. The research reveals that TSA’s strength is in its rigorous recruitment and selection process, which attracts top-tier candidates, who are intrinsically motivated to make a difference in education and who would not normally choose teaching. Furthermore, the career path trajectory of most TAs changed as a result of their experiences during the programme, as at least 60% of TAs decided to remain teachers and others remained in education, outside the classroom. However, the placement of TAs was subject to provincial departments’ needs, which sometimes did not align with TSA and unconducive school environments compromised TAs work. Furthermore, weaknesses in the programme design, strategy and provision of some key services pose a real threat to the quality of the programme, its outcomes and its viabilityItem The African struggle for independent education: a history of Wilberforce Institute, Evaton 1905 to 1950s(2018) Kumalo, Vusumuzi 'Vusi' RodneyFrom its earliest days, Wilberforce Institute had a unique place in the history of African education in the Transvaal. The school was founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1905 as an independent educational institution, marking African reaction to mainstream missionary education that had been tainted by some second-generation evangelist missionaries and colonial bureaucrats. This faction condemned liberal education as too literary for Africans, seeing it as incompatible to the needs of the colonial cultural and economic development and fearing that it might produce men and women who would refuse to accept the colonial values inculcated in the classroom. In this crucial period, African dissatisfaction and grievances about education began to feature in African controlled newspapers, particularly Imvo Zabantsundu. This marked the beginning of a complex process of Africans searching for alternative independent education while rejecting mainstream missionary education. Several African independent schools were established throughout South Africa; Wilberforce was the prominent school in the Transvaal. From very small beginnings, Wilberforce Institute strove not simply to bolster academic skills of the African youth but also to embody the principles of self-determination, self-sufficiency and a proud African identity. The school was embraced by its founders as a symbol of a new phase of struggle, a crusade rooted in the renascent idea that Africans were a conquered nation that needed to claim intellectual and cultural autonomy before achieving political independence. As the school advanced, many of the changes took place in response to altered government attitudes and new directions in education. This study presents the neglected aspects of education in the historiography of missionary education in South Africa. It demonstrates how the long history of formal schooling in South Africa, extending back to the nineteenth century, became a contested terrain. It tracks why and how Wilberforce Institute was founded, concentrating on the period between Wilberforce's founding in 1905 and the early 1950s when the Bantu Education Department took control of most aspects of the institute. It was a period of terrible financial constraint, but also of unique independence and experimentation.Item An analysis of the measurement of the progress in learning outcomes at country level: the case of South Africa(2017) Deliwe, Carol Oluyemi NugaThis study contributes to the literature on the development and implementation of sample-based systemic learning assessment programmes which are used to measure the progress in learning outcomes in schooling systems. The justification for focusing on sample-based assessment is for reasons of cost and the need for test-security – conditions which prevail in most developing countries. The study modifies and emphasises the technical aspects of an existing framework, which classifies assessment systems by levels of development. This modified framework and modified rubric arising from the framework are then used to analyse and evaluate the dimensions of enabling context, system alignment and assessment quality of South African learning assessment programmes intended to measure learning progress at country level. Programmes examined include the Annual National Assessment (ANA), the National School Certificate (NSC) and the Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ) programme. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on large scale learning assessment at country level. The specific research contribution of the study includes a modified framework and evaluation matrix for analysing educational assessment programmes for measuring learning progress at the country level. The second research contribution is a detailed and updated chronology and profile of these programmes in South Africa. The research and policy implications of the findings of the study include detailed technical specifications for strengthening the measurement of the progress of learning at the country level, drawing on best practice and lessons learned from South Africa’s rich and varied participation in learning assessment programmes.Item Bridging the gap: literacy clubs for underperforming grade 8 and 9 learners in a township school(2017) Matariro, MariyeniUsing English as a medium of instruction or the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) can be a very difficult task especially if the children do not speak the language and are multilingual. It affects reading, writing and oral language skills. This study seeks to examine the impact of exposing underperforming grade 8 and 9 learners of English to a Literacy Club. The study is a follow up of the study that was done in 2013. The main difference between the current study and the previous study is that, participants in the first study were already readers and volunteered to join the Literacy Club. Although school rules were relaxed, only English was used to discuss the read texts. In the current study, because I was working with weak readers, learners who have been identified as at risk of failing and had all been invited to join the Literacy Club as a form of language enrichment programme, the participants will be allowed to use all the linguistic skills at their disposal for both discussion of texts and reflecting in their journals. This is based on the premise that being multilingual should not be viewed as a barrier but a resource for learning. Underpinned by the socio-cultural approach to learning and drawing intensively from different theoretical views of language learning and learning to read, a case of 16 learners in grade 8 and 9 participated in this study. The study adopted a qualitative approach where a number of methods were used for the purposes of data collection. The study discovered that Literacy Clubs are a good vehicle to impart reading skills as they motivate learners to read. Literacy Clubs also have a positive impact on attainment in language tests. The study also discovered that allowing learners to use all the linguistic repertoires available to them boosts their confidence to talk about the literature they have read and improves the quality of their discussions. The study recommended that reading should be allocated time within normal school hours for each grade, children should be given an opportunity to write reading journals which should be marked and commented on by the teacher to encourage free writing and develop writing skills, the context of the school should be considered when deciding on the language policy to adopt and lastly but most importantly, translanguaging should be seriously considered as a pedagogical tool when teaching a second language.Item Evaluating development effectiveness assessing and comparing the impact od education intervention in South Africa(2016) Besharati, Neissan AlessandroThis research is a contribution to the field of development evaluation. Much of the evaluation practice in development and public policy remains weak in scientific validity, and challenged by issues of attribution and comparability of results across different studies. After an in-depth review of the existing literature and an analysis of the current shortfalls and knowledge gaps in programme evaluation, the research proposes a methodological framework that allows for the empirical measurement and comparison of the impact of diverse types of interventions aimed at addressing a specific outcome of interest. The evaluation framework informs decision-making in social-economic development processes, by combing elements of theory-based counterfactual evaluation, multiple-treatment meta-analysis, mixed methods, and participatory approaches. The evaluation framework is tested in South Africa by utilising the proposed package of methods through two case studies presented in this thesis, to generate evidence for policy-makers, programme managers, and investors operating in the education sector. The first is an evaluation of the impact of the corporate social investments of Anglo American Platinum in Limpopo and North West provinces, that utilised geo-spatial features of mining operations to conduct a quasiexperiment. The second is a comparative analysis of major interventions implemented in South Africa to improve learning outcomes in public schools. The education meta-analysis is the first of its kind to be conducted in South Africa, and has revealed many locally-produced impact studies which had not previously been captured by international reviews on school interventions in developing countries. The empirical work conducted in this research confirms existing theories and reveals new insights into the role of the private sector, the proximity of schools to mines, psycho-social and economic factors, learner age and home language, educational material, quantity and quality of teachers, school management, and accountability systems, in affecting education outcomes. The research highlights some of the programmes and policies which have been most effective in South Africa’s schooling sector, while cautioning about the contextual factors and methodological design features which influence the effect sizes being reported in the evaluations of development interventions. The research concludes by reflecting on the experiences, data and cost analysis challenges, and the lessons learnt from the application of the proposed evaluation approaches in South Africa’s education sector. It discusses the limitations of the framework, and how this can be further refined for future use in other countries, sectors, and development policy contexts.Item Governance and leadership challenges in the schools of Ekurhuleni South District 16(2016) Monareng, Madikana JosephThis study explored governance and leadership challenges at the Edenridge High School. The report uses a case study as well as an interactive qualitative analysis research methodology. It explores how the School Governing Body provides strategy to the school management team, with their educators, in order to implement the strategy in collaboration with the GDE policies, will ultimately lead to good governance and effective leadership and management in the school. The GDE policies and practices are used to address complex challenges in order to effect change. The researcher argues that despite the challenges which the SGB and SMT, as well as the educators in the school experience, change becomes evident. The stakeholders learn to work together, respect each other and forge ahead. These challenges brought about by insufficient provision of inservice trainings and relevant workshops to be conducted in schools contribute to shaping future developed and professional bodies of SGBs and SMTs in general, in their good governance strategies and effective leadership and management systems. If the systems in place are sustained, they then leave the stakeholders with the potential of becoming public servants of the future. The findings reveal that the Constitution of South Africa Act No. 108 of 1996, South African Schools Act (SASA) No. 84 of 1996, Employment of Educators’ Act (EEA) No. 76 of 1998, and the National Education Policy Act (NEPA) No. 27 of 1996 are not used sufficiently and substantively to influence change that must take place in schools. Discretion and common sense tend to have taken the place of education policies and practices in resolving problems and finding each other. While schools discuss embracing the ten fundamental values of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), living up to them continues to remain a challenge in practice. ii This study also investigates the role that SGB and SMT, together with the teaching staff (educators) play in governance, leadership and management of teaching and learning. The process takes place through the alternative approach of distributed - and instructional – leadership, in order to promote quality education. As a qualitative case study of only one township Gauteng secondary school, data was collected by means of questionnaires. Perceptions of the SGB, SMT and educators on distributed and instructional leadership embedded within governance, leadership and management were examined, as well as how the concept was applied in the day-to-day running of the school. It was found that the SGB’s, SMT’s and educators’ responses in the questionnaires, despite their extensive teaching and managing experience, related to the situation where the stakeholders were not fully aware of the implications of governance, leadership and management within the new dispensation. They vaguely referred to their roles as governors, leaders and managers without specifying how and what they were governing, leading and managing in their respective schools. Recommendations are that distributed leadership strategies in governance by the SGB could be found in the case study school to optimise the instructional leadership and management of teaching and learning by the SMT and educators, and that time should be granted for HODs and their principals within the SMT structure for the implementation of this instructional leadership and management. Challenges such as the ones mentioned above, including the recent fluctuation of matric results, which dropped by approximately 9% in 2015, (Basic Education Minister’s Speech, January 2015) moving the pass rate from 75,8% in 2014 down to 70,7% in 2015, will obviously be curbedItem Successful instructional leadership practices in challenging circumstances: a case study of one Qwaqwa township secondary school(2017) Mofokeng, Lehlohonolo IsraelThis study sought to explore successful instructional leadership practices in challenging circumstances. One township secondary school located in QwaQwa, Free State province, was used as the case study. The purpose of this study was to understand how the school has managed to consistently produce meritorious academic performances over the years despite facing multiple deprivations such as poverty, high crime rates and dilapidated learning infrastructure, among others. To better understand the instructional leadership approach, the study identified three key characteristics of successful instructional leaders and used them to form the basis for understanding whether the identified school principal applied them in responding to their learners‘ socio-economic challenges. This study was located within qualitative methodological approach with interpretivism as the research paradigm. The main data source was the in-depth interviews. The participants included the principal, head of department and two senior teachers. The study found the following to be key to the school‘s consistent plausible academic performance: (a) the main focus of the school was on ensuring the availability and efficient use of the instructional materials (b) the school principal took professional development of his academic staff seriously (c) there was a strong focus on managing teaching and learning (d) goal setting was seen as a driver towards achieving the academic goals of the school and (e) the effective use of the school‘s allocated instructional time was of great importance.Item To maintain the living, but not the living deficients, Harold Benjamin Fantham, eugenics and educability(2015-05-29) Appel, Stephen William Daniel